Great universities are driven by great philanthropy. Tulane’s ongoing ascent as a world-class research institution is empowered by the generous support of alumni, families and friends who recognize our tremendous impact on the world and want to help it grow. As I write this, our historic campaign — now called Always the Audacious — has raised over $1.7 billion from nearly 100,000 donors. Among these scores of dedicated supporters, one visionary Tulanian’s extraordinary giving recently led to a major milestone in university history: the naming of the Celia Scott Weatherhead School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine.

As a young Newcomb College student and theatre major, Celia could hardly have imagined the impact she was destined to have on her beloved alma mater. Along with her late husband Albert, Celia has transformed every corner of the university with decades of impactful giving. For example, the Weatherhead Scholars Program enables more students to achieve the dream of a Tulane education, while Weatherhead Hall elevates the student experience, engaging them socially and intellectually with faculty-in-residence. Celia also established the Weatherhead Presidential Chairs to recruit globally renowned faculty who are changing the world with their groundbreaking, cross-disciplinary research.

Celia’s latest gift builds on Tulane’s long history at the vanguard of public health, from yellow fever and cholera in the 19th century to COVID-19 and cancer in the 21st century. Thanks to our boundary-crossing approach, our leadership in public health is deeply intertwined with our strengths in other areas, from medicine to social work to Latin American studies. Our interdisciplinarity, our outward-facing focus and our collaborative culture are driving the explosive growth of our research enterprise.

We saw this growth reflected in the historic visit to campus this fall by the then-president and first lady of the United States, announcing $23 million in research funding as part of the bipartisan cancer moonshot initiative. We saw it in the selection of the Tulane National Primate Research Center as the NIH-funded national coordinating center for research on aging, which follows the TNPRC’s success as the coordinating center for COVID-19 research. And we saw it in the inaugural Tulane Future of Energy Forum, which convened nearly 1,000 industry experts and thought leaders to explore the role of energy pragmatism in securing our energy future. This three-day event showcased how our research capabilities and our location in the Gulf South make us the perfect institution to tackle the complex and critical issues related to the global energy transition.

From energy and the environment, to cancer and infectious disease, to music and literature, to aging and brain science, Tulane is building a better future — and our efforts are multiplied exponentially by heroes of the university like Celia Scott Weatherhead. The Celia Scott Weatherhead School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine joins the A. B. Freeman School of Business as only the second named school among our ten academic units. By my count, that leaves eight schools that are ready for their own champion.